Currently, in the field of regenerative medicine, studies are being carried out in which stem cells collected from a subject are caused to proliferate or differentiate ex vivo, and are thereafter transplanted into a subject, thereby promoting regeneration of tissue of the subject. Stem cells are multipotent and can differentiate into a variety of tissues and organs, and they have been attracting attention as cells which are the key to regenerative medicine.
It has been known that the addition of a serum to the medium is effective in ex vivo cultural proliferation of stem cells. However, when an objective relates to human therapies, the use of a serum derived from an animal other than humans should be avoided in light of possible safety problems. Therefore, there is a demand for the use of a serum prepared from blood collected from a human, and in particular, collected from the same subject. Furthermore, in comparison to a blood test, cultivation of stem cells in the field of regenerative medicine requires a relatively large amount of serum. In addition, in order to prepare serum assuming application to a human, it is required to separate and store the serum aseptically in a closed system.
As a response to the abovementioned various requirements, the present applicants have already disclosed a serum preparation apparatus including: a blood storage part for storing blood, and a component storage part linked aseptically and in an air-tight manner to the blood storage part, the blood storage part having a blood coagulation promotion substance that is in contact with the blood and promotes coagulation, and the blood coagulation promotion substance producing serum aseptically (refer to Patent Document 1).    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 3788479